Graham: Arizona State vs. Arizona the ‘most important game of the year’

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State head coach Todd Graham is known for many things — a Texas twang, snappy Nike zip-ups, a 27-11 record in three years so far at ASU — but being succinct is not one of them.

Yet Monday he was just that, chopping down the biggest press conference of the year into 12 short minutes.

By his account, this week the Sun Devils will play their biggest game of the year — so why such a short analysis of it?

It might have had something to do with the unassuming silver hardware sitting next to him throughout the presser.

The Territorial Cup did the talking for him.

Graham has kept the Cup in Tempe for two straight years. He has the rare chance of going 3-0 in the Territorial Cup series in his first three years as head coach of the Sun Devils, something that even legends like Frank Kush and Darryl Rogers were unable to do.

He knows the significance of the game. He’s been reminded by fans since he arrived in Tempe three years ago.

“You can win 11 games and be 11-0 and lose this one — and you had an unsuccessful season,” he said Saturday after a decisive victory over Washington State. “That was explained to me when I got here by our fans, and that’s exactly how we approach it.

“This is the game — you can go in there and look on my (calendar). It’s starred on there. It’s the most important game of the year.”

For the first time in 28 years, both No. 13 ASU and No. 12 Arizona will be ranked when they face off Friday. Both teams will be playing for their tenth wins on the season — for ASU, that’d be back-to-back double-digits in the win column. And on Arizona’s side, head coach Rich Rodriguez is trying to avoid becoming the first Wildcats head coach since 1971 to lose three times in a row to ASU to begin his coaching career at Arizona.

Last year, Arizona State had clinched the Pac-12 South prior to the Territorial Cup win and then put a 37-point beating on their neighbors to the south to clinch home-field advantage for the Pac-12 title game.

This year, things are a little closer.

Arizona’s freshman quarterback and his highly effective triple-option have seen the Wildcats to nine wins and a current three-game winning streak. A big, strong defense led by Scooby Wright (who also leads the nation in tackles-for-loss) will be a challenge for ASU’s recently inconsistent offense.

And even though the Sun Devils have won five of the last seven matchups in Tucson, the environment down there is hostile.

But that atmosphere, and the temperature between the two teams themselves could be a part of why Graham has been successful against Arizona — he’s a huge fan of the rivalry.

“This is about our team playing their team,” he said. “I don’t really worry about (the hostility). I love rivalries.

“The key for us to be successful is to not get too emotional about it…focus on the fundamentals and the game plan and what we have to do to execute to win.”

So maybe that’s why he kept it so succinct Monday — he’s already in Tuscon with his guys, focusing on exactly what the Sun Devils have to do to win.

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